HYDERABAD: The Telangana government is focusing on reclaiming encroached temple lands in the state and contemplating setting up a task force for the purpose.
Officials said that there is currently a task force team for only two departments, namely Excise and Civil Supplies. Now the government is thinking of setting up one for the Endowments department too. Officials have been asked to study the functioning of task forces and the measures being taken to protect temple lands in other states.
According to sources, Endowments Minister Konda Surekha recently held a series of meetings with officials and directed them to remove encroachments on temple lands in the state. She asked the officials about the sections being invoked against encroachers and the action being initiated against them.
Sources added that according to a report submitted to the minister, between 2002 and 2025, around 2,500 cases were pending in various courts regarding encroachment on temple lands. Of them, 543 cases were disposed of by courts.
Surekha instructed the officials to also take the help of the Archaeology Department in identifying the lands belonging to various temples. The Endowments department is considering constituting an expert committee on temple lands and strengthening the Telangana Endowments Tribunal.